(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of processing multimedia content description data sets in order to deliver a plurality of output data sets from a single input data set. The invention also relates to the use of such a method.
(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Methods are known for generating multimedia content description data sets, in particular in application of the digital video broadcast (DVB) standard. Once generated, such data sets are intended for transmission to remote storage means in the form of files, or merely to be broadcast together with the multimedia content with which they are associated. However, once these data sets have been generated, their size cannot be modified, in particular in order to respond to constraints in the broadcast network or to constraints in the remote storage means. In other words, once the description data set has been generated by the service operator or the network operator, it is sent to receivers of that data without it being possible to modify the data dynamically.
In a DVB broadcast network, when transferring data in MPEG2 format, the available instantaneous data rate is high and constant, which makes it easy to transmit such description data sets. In contrast, on a network of the Internet type, in which quality of service is variable, transmitting such data sets can give rise to problems, particularly when the data sets are too voluminous. In other words, something that does not pose any problem with conventional broadcasting can become problematic in the context of the Internet.